Rear wiper blade - longer replacement?

[intensifi]

Just want to add Motorcraft also makes a longer rear wiper that is identical to the stock blade except longer. It is from the Ford Edge, and you can get one from you Ford dealer (see table for part number). The mounting is identical, right down to the mold marks. It is very similar to the Trico 15-G but the mounting is the OEM type.

	Part No.	Length
Mach-E blade	LJ8Z-17528-CA	11.75"
Edge blade	FT4Z-17528-DA	15.0"

As you can see the Edge blade is 1 5/8" longer on each side and the mounting is identical:

The last 1/2" of the blade isn't touching the glass in the parked position due to the glass curvature. Personally I think a 14" blade would just about be perfect, perhaps there's another Ford SUV with an intermediate length.

Do you think the mount could be slid to put more of the blade to the center of the window and not have it hang off the glass on the far end?

 

[dbsb3233]

Do you think the mount could be slid to put more of the blade to the center of the window and not have it hang off the glass on the far end?

I doubt it, they're usually centered. But more to the point, why? I find the main problem with the short OEM blade is that it doesn't wipe high enough on the already-low rear window. The longer replacements do hang off the side a little because of how the glass curves on the edges, but it's well worth it to get the wipe higher on the window IMO.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Do you think the mount could be slid to put more of the blade to the center of the window and not have it hang off the glass on the far end?

No, the mounting point on the wiper arm is fixed. If you look at Tim's photo on the previous page the wiped area with the 15" blade is about as close to the pivot as anything I typically see. And as he pointed out above, the part of the window you need to see out of is near the top of the glass, so you actually want the blade to extend further out.

 

[intensifi]

I doubt it, they're usually centered. But more to the point, why? I find the main problem with the short OEM blade is that it doesn't wipe high enough on the already-low rear window. The longer replacements do hang off the side a little because of how the glass curves on the edges, but it's well worth it to get the wipe higher on the window IMO.

And if the mount could be moved an inch off center you would have the best of both worlds. No overhang and a nice tall wipe to clean the window. Looking at it from the rear would mask the offset in the mount.

 

[intensifi]

No, the mounting point on the wiper arm is fixed. If you look at Tim photo on the previous page the wiped area with the 15" blade is about as close to the pivot as anything I typically see. And as he pointed out above, the part of the window you need to see out of is near the top of the glass, so you actually want the blade to extend further out.

Thank you!

I’m going to purchase a couple to determine if I can modify the ends to shorten a bit.

 

[dbsb3233]

And if the mount could be moved an inch off center you would have the best of both worlds. No overhang and a nice tall wipe to clean the window. Looking at it from the rear would mask the offset in the mount.

I must be misunderstanding what you're saying then. To clear more of the window at the top of the sweep, the blade is going to stick out longer on the side when it's horizontal too.

I just went out and looked at mine again, and the Trico 15-G blade actually maintains contact with the glass the entire way. It's the arm that sticks out a little past, but that doesn't really matter. The blade is pretty much the max that can go on there without running over the edge of the glass.

 

[intensifi]

I must be misunderstanding what you're saying then. To clear more of the window at the top of the sweep, the blade is going to stick out longer on the side when it's horizontal too.

I just went out and looked at mine again, and the Trico 15-G blade actually maintains contact with the glass the entire way. It's the arm that sticks out a little past, but that doesn't really matter. The blade is pretty much the max that can go on there without running over the edge of the glass.

View attachment 89749

Thinking of moving it in towards the center.

 

[dbsb3233]

Thinking of moving it in towards the center.

If it moves toward the center, it won't reach as high on the window on the sweep (which is where the field of vision out the rearview mirror is most affected). It would sweep more next to the motor though, if that's what you're looking to accomplish.

The longer blade does do both though. You get like an extra inch and a half of sweep on both the inner and outer circles with the 15" blade.

**edit** I think I realize what you mean now. By "center" you mean up-down center, not left-right. As Mach-Lee said, no, it's a fixed mounting point. The 15" blade is really better anyway though as it sweeps more in total (inner and outer circle). And they're pretty cheap. I'm not noticing any extra strain on the motor either. The Trico 15-G has maintained good contact, for the year I've had it on there anyway.

 

[intensifi]

It turns out buying the one with just the D suffix fits completely on the glass and is 14”.

for me this is good enough. I’m calling it a day!

THIS SHOULD BE STANDARD EQUIPMENT!

 

[Gixxer750]

I just finished putting the Trico 15-G on. Man, it's way better. I have to admit that pulling the old one off, even when done right, feels like you may have broken something. It's quite the hard pull right to get that pop.

 

[Mach-Lee]

It turns out buying the one with just the D suffix fits completely on the glass and is 14”.

for me this is good enough. I’m calling it a day!

THIS SHOULD BE STANDARD EQUIPMENT!

Cool you found the OEM 14" blade! I added it to my previous post. Yes I agree that would be the perfect length and should have been the blade used on all Mach-E's from the factory.

The only issue I see is the part catalog says that -D is discontinued and superseded with -DA. So it could be difficult to obtain at some dealers? They might end up giving you the 15" one.

 

[Neil4Real]

It turns out buying the one with just the D suffix fits completely on the glass and is 14”.

for me this is good enough. I’m calling it a day!

THIS SHOULD BE STANDARD EQUIPMENT!

Can you show how much gap it leaves at the top after a wipe?

 

[Londonboy49]

This is a good read. Will look into it further when replacement is needed.

 

[21st Century Pony]

So I installed the Trico - G blade last June thanks to Connoisseur's recommendation. So much better than the OEM blade, but on long WInter drive vistas with the usual weather scuzz on the rear window, the top view was still a bit width-obstructed even with the Trico - G.

I read through this whole thread in the past 2 days and, driving across Virginia yesterday, I made a slight hand adjustment to the inside mirror (this is after owning the Mach E for 20K miles).

Normally, I had the rear center mirror adjusted to show all of the rear window's glass, edge-to-edge and bottom-to-top, in this mirror. BTW, I am 6 foot tall.

Thinking things through, I tilted the inside rear mirror up just enough to show the rear center passenger headrest's top edge at the bottom of the mirror, rather the bottom of the rear window glass. For me, this slight upward tilt immediately widened the usable narrow blade-cleaned center arc point at the top of the window, as seen in this mirror.

I drove back from Charlottesville to Arlington, about 110 miles, in late day's daylight and in darkness, and I had a much more understandable view of distant cars on the drive back. I'll keep this adjustment.

Hope this is useful info for others.

 

[CarGuy11]

Hmm Trico 15-G little difficult to find. Any updated part numbers or options?

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